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Grow with Google and Lansing Community College announce $100,000 for digital skills training

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Press Release

Posted at 1:33 PM, Aug 28, 2018

and last updated2018-08-29 08:14:14-04

Google joined Lansing Community College today to announce a $100,000 sponsorship that will expand the college’s digital skills offerings to job seekers and small businesses throughout the region. The sponsorship is part of the tech company’s initiative, Grow with Google, to help create economic opportunities for Americans.

“No matter the industry, businesses need employees who have solid grasp of technology and can apply it in their daily jobs," said Lansing Community College President Brent Knight. "This partnership with Google will allow LCC to help businesses and job seekers advance their technical skills so that they are better able to compete.”

The announcement and funding - through the LCC Foundation - comes less than six months after the college hosted more than 1,000 people at the Grow with Google tour event at its downtown campus. The two-day event connected area businesses, job seekers, educators and non-profits with Google’s free digital skills training resources. With this new sponsorship, Lansing Community College will offer free classes geared toward teaching digital skills pulled from Google’s Applied Digital Skills, Get Your Business Online, and IT Professional Support curricula.

“Grow with Google is committed to helping Michiganders learn the digital skills needed to succeed in today’s economy and we’re proud to further our commitment here in Lansing,” said Google’s Amber Jesse, who helps leads the Grow with Google program. “We’re excited to leverage our expertise and partner with colleges like LCC that prepare this region for the jobs of today and tomorrow.”

In addition to its partnership with LCC, Google has made several other investments to enhance digital skills learning in the state. Google previously announced a $100,000 sponsorship for the Lansing Information Technology Empowerment Center to provide technology and coding programming for area students.

Less than half of 18 to 25-year-olds are reported to believe their education gives them the skills that they need to even enter the country’s workforce, and one-third of jobs will require skills that aren’t common in today’s workforce by 2020. Google hopes to address these education demands nationwide by supporting the nonprofits, schools, community organizations that are working hard to ensure more Americans have the skills they need to succeed in an increasingly digital economy.